Just as Dong Hao had said, this Three-Yang Rejuvenation Soup was a treasure for replenishing Origin Energy.
This medicinal meal was slowly simmered from three supreme-yang Spirit Materials: black-boned chicken, old mountain ginseng, and purple reishi. The yang energy and pure Origin Energy contained within the soup were rich to the extreme.
The moment a mouthful of hot soup entered his stomach, Jiang Xuan felt a warm current flow down his throat and instantly spread through his limbs and bones. The qi and blood that had been more than half depleted by the Heart Fire were restored by nearly half in an instant.
After the second mouthful of Rejuvenation Soup entered his stomach, that warm Origin Energy had already traveled throughout his entire body, soothing every damaged meridian.
By the time he drank the third mouthful, he could even faintly feel a dry heat from having been replenished too much.
In only a short while, relying on this bowl of Three-Yang Rejuvenation Soup, the deficiencies and hidden injuries Jiang Xuan had accumulated through cultivation were seven or eight parts healed.
The effect delighted Jiang Xuan, but it also gave rise to a powerful sense of crisis.
"Pills and spiritual meals are simply too effective. With such delicacies every day, just how fast must the Aristocratic Clan heirs cultivate?"
The cultivation speed of Lineage heirs truly was astonishingly fast.
Yesterday, only Qin Feng and Xie Hanyan had opened thirty-six acupoints and been rated excellent.
Today, by the noon break, that number had already become eleven.
Compared to these Aristocratic Clan heirs, my disadvantage is indeed far too obvious. But fortunately, I became a Daoist Acolyte and a Clear-Heart Sword Disciple. At the very least, I now have the qualifications to compete with them.
After eating his fill and recovering physically, Jiang Xuan immediately bid Dong Hao farewell and returned to the corner at the back of the hall.
This time, Dong Hao did not stop him again.
However, after he left, Dong Hao's maid Nan Zhi hesitated for a moment before finally speaking to Dong Hao, whom she had served day and night for more than a decade.
"Young master, to recruit Jiang Xuan, you spent so much effort and even got into conflicts with Zeng Jun and Guo Shaoshang. Is it worth it?"
"It is." Dong Hao glanced at Xie Hanyan, who was not far away, and said quietly, "Even without Jiang Xuan, Zeng Jun and I could never have remained at peace."
"This dispute was not caused by Jiang Xuan coming over. Rather, he was implicated by the conflict between Zeng Jun and me."
"Furthermore, Jiang Xuan's talent in the sword path is exceptional. You know as well as I do that Sword Cultivators have always valued righteousness and treated life and death lightly. As long as I make Jiang Xuan owe me enough, then if he truly encounters a life-and-death crisis or some other great trouble, others may flee, but Jiang Xuan will certainly never abandon me. Using a few Spirit Stones to buy a life is well worth it!"
"..." Nan Zhi found herself unable to refute such words. Sword Cultivators valued their promises. For the sake of a benefactor, even knowing death was certain, a Sword Cultivator would still draw their sword against a stronger foe. Such things had always been commonplace in this world.
She lowered her head and bowed. "This servant understands. Tomorrow, this servant will continue preparing spiritual meals for Young Master Jiang."
At the front of the training ground, Dong Hao and his servant were having their conversation. To Jiang Xuan's helplessness, after returning to his seat, he could not find any peace either.
The moment he sat down, a group of students from the Cold Gate swarmed around him, every face piled high with fawning smiles.
Someone took the lead, speaking in a flattering tone. "Brother Jiang, just how did you catch Young Master Dong's eye? The more friends one has, the more paths one has. Give us brothers a little hint too, will you?"
"Exactly, exactly! So long as Brother Jiang is willing to offer us a little guidance, I'll remember this kindness for the rest of my life!"
The crowd's encirclement and their sycophantic words made Jiang Xuan's gaze turn cold at once.
Before he could speak, however, a cold snort suddenly sounded from nearby, carrying undisguised contempt.
"More friends, more paths? Remember it for a lifetime? Pah!"
"You bunch of trash, why don't you piss and take a look at yourselves? What use is your worthless gratitude?"
"You want to catch a white wolf with empty hands and take someone else's secret to establish themselves for free? Why don't you see whether you're worthy first?"
"In this world, what secret isn't exchanged for Spirit Stones? If you have no money, then get the hell out of the way!"
The sudden outburst made everyone glare in anger. Even Jiang Xuan lifted his eyes and looked over.
Then he discovered that the thin youth doing the cursing was unfamiliar to him. He had never seen him before.
Yet the instant the youth met his gaze, he immediately reined in all his vicious aura and revealed a humble, ingratiating expression.
But he only fawned over Jiang Xuan. Facing everyone else's angry glares, he did not care in the slightest. Instead, he sneered. "What, you think I'm wrong? Or you refuse to accept it? Hehe, if I were you, I'd be begging Young Master Jiang for forgiveness right now... With Young Master Dong's connections, arranging some lucrative career for you might be difficult, but making you do the bitterest and most exhausting careers would only take a single word!"
"Crack..."
As soon as those words came out, the expressions of those who had wanted to profit from Jiang Xuan changed immediately.
"Y-Young Master Jiang, we're sorry! We meant nothing else!"
In utter fear and trepidation, they apologized, then slunk away in disgrace.
After they left, Jiang Xuan's gaze fell upon the thin youth before him.
"You did this because you want me to introduce you to Dong Hao."
Hearing this, the youth repeatedly shook his head and respectfully said to Jiang Xuan, "No. I wish to follow Young Master Jiang."
"Follow me?" This answer startled Jiang Xuan slightly, but he soon said calmly, "Like you, I come from the Cold Gate. I have no resources, and my talent is merely ordinary. If you follow me, you won't gain anything."
Those words made the youth before him even more humble. "Young master, you jest. Since Young Master Dong thinks so highly of you, Young Master Jiang, you must certainly be capable."
He paused, his tone growing increasingly earnest. "I would not dare hope to gain anything from you, young master. I only ask to remain by your side and serve you before and behind the saddle. Young master, you seek only to cultivate in peace, but there are too many idle people in this world, and even more people who lack the sense to read the room. It is not simply because you wish for quiet that you can have it."
"With this subordinate here, I can block these troubles for you and allow you to focus on cultivation."
"And your daily chores, young master—fetching water, cleaning, buying supplies—can all be handled by this subordinate. I will absolutely not waste even half a moment of your time."
Jiang Xuan glanced at the water jug placed to the side, then listened to the youth's words. He had to admit that having a considerate subordinate would indeed save him the time of handling trivial matters himself.
Thus, after pondering for a moment, Jiang Xuan no longer drove the person before him away. However, he made his position clear. "You may stay if you wish. But I cannot guarantee that I can give you what you want."
"To be able to remain by your side, young master, this subordinate has already had his wish fulfilled."
And so, to avoid being disturbed, Jiang Xuan accepted his first follower. His name was Cheng Xiu.
Next, without needing a single instruction from Jiang Xuan, Cheng Xiu picked up the water jug, filled it with clean water at the stream, then swept the ground around Jiang Xuan's seat until it was spotless.
When Jiang Xuan prepared to enter meditation and cultivate, Cheng Xiu perceptively sat some distance away. This created a suitable gap, ensuring he would not disturb Jiang Xuan's cultivation while also allowing him to stop any idle people who came seeking favor.
However, after finishing all this, he hesitated for a moment before still offering Jiang Xuan a piece of advice.
"Young master, the next time Young Master Dong invites you over, it would be best if you do not return to the back rows... Young Master Dong values you, so you should also take the initiative to maintain this relationship."
Those words made Jiang Xuan glance at Cheng Xiu, and he understood something.
In Cheng Xiu's eyes—or rather, in the eyes of all the students in the training ground—his status and Dong Hao's were unequal.
He was the lower party, while Dong Hao was the recruiter.
Even Dong Hao himself thought so.
And Jiang Xuan... was not surprised that everyone had come to think this way.
Born of the Cold Gate, with an unimpressive Spirit Root grade, someone like him, by ordinary reasoning, would have a difference as vast as heaven and earth from Dong Hao, whether now or in the future.
Moreover, this world did not preach that all people were equal. Instead, its classes were sharply divided.
In the eyes of many, Jiang Xuan, as the lower party, ought to maintain his relationship with Dong Hao. That was the duty of someone beneath another.
Unfortunately, that was everyone else's view. After obtaining the attribute panel, Jiang Xuan did not believe himself inferior to anyone.
Cheng Xiu, as well as those watching this place, all believed that since Jiang Xuan, with his mediocre Spirit Root aptitude, had received the favor of a great person, he ought to seize the opportunity to attach himself to Dong Hao and actively curry favor.
Within this immortal sect academy, talking idly of backbone and dignity was merely wasting a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity.
But after obtaining the Career Panel, Jiang Xuan did not believe himself inferior to anyone.
With that thought in his heart, he naturally could not summon even the slightest inclination to bow and scrape before others.
Of course, before he became powerful, Jiang Xuan would not reveal the thoughts in his heart.
At this moment, faced with Cheng Xiu's earnest advice, Jiang Xuan merely said quietly, "I have my own considerations regarding how I conduct myself."
Once he finished speaking, he closed his eyes and regulated his breathing, saying no more.
At the same time, the warm medicinal power dispersed by the soup slowly circulated within his body, nourishing his meridians and internal organs strand by strand.
Several hours later, dusk sank in the west. It was time for the sect's evening lesson.
Without needing anyone to urge him, Jiang Xuan, sensing that his body had recovered to its peak condition, immediately began his second cultivation session of the day.
This time, he still cultivated the One Qi Sword Art.
The circulation sequence still began with Liver-Wood.
But unlike before, Jiang Xuan no longer recklessly drew upon the origin qi of his liver. He merely guided out a wisp of Wood Origin to ignite the Heart Fire.
Then, he suppressed the blazing Heart Fire in its entirety, leaving behind only a tiny flicker and sending it into his spleen in accordance with the principle of the Five Elements generating one another.
Wood generated Fire, Fire generated Earth, and the spleen belonged to the Earth element.
"Hum—"
The instant the breath of innate qi Jiang Xuan had nurtured fused into his spleen, he immediately sensed an utterly different feeling.
Unlike the abundant vitality of Liver-Wood or the blazing surge of Heart Fire, the spleen belonged to Earth. What it gave Jiang Xuan was the heavy solidity of a deep pool and towering mountain. The origin qi he nurtured within it likewise became deep, condensed, and weighty.
But "weight" itself was a form of power.
Using the Spleen-Earth Origin as its foundation, Jiang Xuan clearly sensed that even the Sword Qi he condensed from Spell Power was several times more solid than before.
"Earth is the foundation of the land. In countless myths and legends, the earth element is even the bedrock of the material world. It should naturally possess such power to set the cauldron and stabilize all beneath heaven."
After nurturing earth-origin qi, Jiang Xuan stimulated it with Sword Qi while activating the Clearheart Mirror. His Divine Soul turned inward as he sought to see through the acupoints hidden within his spleen.
Yet his inward observation, which had always swept through all obstacles before, now encountered resistance.